In the Closet
by ninharsag
Summary: A new girl, a gorgeous boy and an insane Facebook challenge lead Bella into an unexpected situation. Can Edward solve the mystery and find the girl? (You know he can). Fluffy lemon ducks...
1. Chapter 1

_Unfortunately in the edit, my original preamble was lost. _

_A few years ago I was reading a lot of fanfiction while breastfeeding (because entertainment opportunities are limited at 4 in the morning when everyone else is asleep). At that time there was a story with a similar name and premise. I only got to read the first couple of chapters of that story and I've no idea of the author's name but this is my version of the story. I would like to acknowledge the unknown author.  
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_Also, I'm obviously not Stephanie Meyer in disguise. I'm too cynical for one thing._

I know how to make myself invisible.

No, I'm not a superhero or anything. I'm just a teenage girl and of course, people can actually see me if I'm in their way or something but I know very well how to keep out of everyone's way, so that nobody does.

I spent most of my childhood in Phoenix and being invisible worked really well for me there. My mother was very young when she had me and she's always been quite a flamboyant personality – I mean as long as I've known her. The more she wore home made tie dye T shirts and talked about her chakras to the other parents, the more I asked her to buy my shirts and jeans from the Gap and refused to listen to her discussions of overseas sweatshops and the damage that the cotton crop does to the environment. In the bright sunshine, I covered my pale skin in dark grey henleys and navy hoodies and I managed to achieve a level of acceptability that was like being invisible. I had a group of friends to do things with but I wasn't the most popular or the most stupid or the cleverest or anything. I was the most average. Living with my mother, I thought this was an achievement.

It did mean that I didn't have any chance of being asked for a date and I did feel a slight touch of envy when we got old enough for a couple of the girls in my group to be asked. But truthfully, I didn't actually like any of the guys they dated anyway and I was self-aware enough to realize that I just wanted the dream and the status without the inconvenience of actually having to be with the guy. My mother, Renee, told me that there was lots of time in my life for boys later and with her history of having an unwanted pregnancy and an early marriage which quickly became a disaster, I thought that for once, she probably knew what she was talking about. This history was also certainly why my mother insisted that I start taking the pill when I was sixteen. I guess, despite everything, she didn't trust me not to have a streak of rebellion, just like her.

As I said, this was all working well for me until suddenly, everything changed. My mother, who had been in and out of a string of romances none of which had worked out happily for various reasons which she spent considerable time consulting astrology tables about, (really, it would have been a combination of incompatibility, poverty and being a single mother), met somebody she liked. Even more surprisingly he actually turned out to be a decent guy who genuinely liked her for herself, including her wacky 90s New Age beliefs and her weird ways. More surprisingly still, she actually ditched some of her stranger outfits and started trying to fit in herself. This was the first time I discovered that love really can work miracles.

The guy, whose name was Phil, asked her to marry him about a year ago and she was so happy, it practically rolled off her. I was happy for her too, I mean, despite it all, I loved her. She always tried to do her best for me, even if my arrival had created a complicated life for her and prevented her from going to college and I couldn't really be too upset that she embarrassed me every time she showed up at school. Phil was a truly nice guy. Actually, if I'm being completely honest, I thought he was a little dumb but you can't be too picky about your stepfather. He was gainfully employed, which was a bonus, not remotely sleazy which was a big plus and reasonable looking, hardly bald at all.

The only downside was that he played baseball in the minor leagues and so was always on the move. Even though Renee never admitted it, I could see that long term, this was going to be an issue. During the year I spent trying to help Renee organize her wedding (don't ask, at one point, we all had to get passports because she was determined to have it on the beach in Rio, or possibly the Bahamas; fortunately I managed to convince her that the local gardens was a better option if she really wanted to get back to nature) I came to the conclusion that the best present I could give my mother was to remove myself from the scene so that she could be free to enjoy her second marriage. After all, after stuffing up her first, it was the least I thought I could do.

I always had another option, and that was to go and live with my Dad. When I was younger I would go and spend holidays with him, where he lived in the tiny town of Forks in Washington State, a few hours drive from Seattle. He was kind but taciturn and I can't honestly say that I got to know him all that well during those visits. He still lived in the house that he had shared with mom and for some reason he had never picked up again. I thought this was strange really; he wasn't bad looking despite the droopy moustache, he had a steady job as the local police chief and his only hobby was fishing which was much better than gambling, for example. I remember asking Renee once when I was about fifteen if my dad was secretly gay, because it is the obvious explanation after all, but Renee just snorted and said she didn't think so. She spent some time after that talking about the difficulties of small town life but it turned into a long justification of her reasons for leaving, which I had heard at least a thousand times (if not quite so long-windedly) so I tuned out. I stopped going to Dad's place for visits after that, thinking that maybe my visits were cramping his style and that if I weren't showing up regularly, he would ask some nice gay guy to move in with him. I continued to talk to him on the phone, trying to find out if his status had changed but it didn't much to my disappointment and he continued to go on weekend fishing trips with some of his friends from the reservation when he wasn't working as the local police chief. The term police chief was pretty amusing as I think there was only one other permanent police officer and a couple of others who worked part-time. He seemed happy enough whenever I spoke to him, and when I tentatively suggested that I might come and stay with him for my last year of high school, I didn't notice any suggestion that he was cursing under his breath and thinking that he would have to abandon the wild gay sex he'd been having all over the house. I have to conclude that my dad just isn't that interested in relationships.

Maybe that's where I get it from.

So, that's how I find myself in Forks, WA, being invisible among the pouring rain and the overcast skies. I have to say that being invisible is not working out so well for me here. Somehow, my clothes in various shades of grey don't feel comforting and protective, they make me feel at risk of fading away into the rain. I try wearing bright red and pink camisoles underneath but they can't be seen and they don't seem to help.

On my first day at school, I was the centre of attention and I have to say, I hated it. I felt like everyone was looking at me, everywhere I went. Boys were looking at me speculatively and I caught at least three obviously trying to work out the size of my boobs. Girls were looking at me as well, trying to size up the extent of the competition. I blushed when anyone spoke directly to me, blushed when I heard anyone talking about me and blushed when I caught anyone looking at me. In other words, I spent my whole time looking like a tomato.

I found a friend in my Spanish class, a gentle quiet girl, just like the ones I was friends with in Arizona and I'm afraid I clung to her like a lifeline. She was good natured enough to take me around with her and I soon made up a routine consisting of the lunchroom, the school paper office and the library when everything else failed. After the first month, people stopped being so obviously interested in me, especially as I showed no signs of being remotely interesting, and I was able to fade into the background a bit, and reduce the blushes to only about four or five a day. I started to feel more comfortable about life.

The exception to this was biology. On my first day, I was walked to biology by Mike Newton, who was trying to be nice to me, I think, but the end result was a serious of awkward questions like "Where do you live?" (why the hell did he want to know that straight away, was he a postcode snob? How pointless would that be in Forks?). I blushed and stammered and could hardly put two words together or look my companion in the eye so I was incredibly relieved when we reached the classroom and I introduced myself to the teacher. Mr Banner (what was this, the Incredible Hulk?) directed me to sit at a bench at the back of the room with only one occupant and I scuttled away with my bag, acutely aware that everyone was watching me, and that they all clearly saw me stumble on the handle of someone's backpack about halfway down. I clung to the bench as if it were a sanctuary, put my bag on the desk and pulled out the stool. As I went to sit down, I felt recovered enough to glance at my bench companion for the first time, to meet the regard of the most gorgeous pair of green eyes with little flecks of amber that I ever recall having come across either seen or imagined. Unfortunately, in the next second I realized that the eyes were actually practically snapping with annoyance bordering on a sort of suppressed fury, if the threatening frown and pursed, perfectly pink lips were any indication. I stood, irresolute, holding the stool awkwardly, afraid to sit down next to the completely gorgeous but apparently irrationally angry guy. Apart from his gorgeous eyes, I slowly realized that he had a generally handsome face, if it weren't looking quite so outraged, topped off with a mop of artfully tousled bronze hair. I don't ever remember being so struck with someone's appearance on first meeting them ever before.

Any romantic fantasies I might have hatched were immediately squashed by him leaning forward and hissing "Look, I sit by myself because I need to work hard in this class if I'm going to get into premed in an Ivy League school so don't try and chat to me or anything because I need to concentrate. I hope you aren't as stupid as you look" he finished and just like that, I was back in the real world where I am mostly invisible and I just remembered why I prefer it that way. The gorgeous but extraordinarily rude guy gave me a last glare and then switched his focus to stare absorbedly at the teacher, presumably concentrating hard as he had suggested. I, on the other hand was subsequently unable to pay attention to more than half of it, I was so absorbed in stealing glances at the spectacular profile of the guy next to me. Fortunately, the half that I did catch made it clear that I had already covered this topic pretty thoroughly in Phoenix at the end of last year.

After the lesson, I had Spanish class where I met Angela. That first day, I followed her to lunch and she led me to a table with lots of the other girls, like Jessica, a petite girl with dark blonde hair and her good friend Lauren and Tanya and Irina and a number of others whose names I still struggle over. As I sat, nibbling an apple and listening to the conversations, I couldn't help noticing my lab partner walk into the lunchroom and settle at a table with two couples.

My preoccupation must have been obvious but I was so lost in my own head, I was unable to tell. Jessica worked it out without any difficulty and half way through lunch she suddenly asked "Why are you staring at Edward Cullen, Bella?" I blushed over my blush and replied haltingly that I had to sit next to him in Biology and that he hadn't been very nice. An unpleasant expression crossed the girl's face but she converted it to a superior smile and said "Edward Cullen doesn't date anybody ever and I wouldn't even bother trying. He's never asked anyone out, never shown any interest in any of the girls. He's clearly gorgeous but he's never even kissed a girl, so the only conclusion is that he must be gay". "I've kissed him" said a much more blonde girl from further down the table. "Oh, get over it," replied Jessica rudely "You were both only 14, Tanya. Since then, nothing." "Tanya put him off women for life" said another girl slyly and they all laughed at the heavily made up blonde's discomfort. "I've heard that Edward picked up at baseball finals last year" another one spoke up. "Yes, but do you have any details?" Jessica asked quickly. One by one the others offered the information that they had which amounted to rumours heard second hand that his best friend Emmett had interrupted Edward and another girl in an intimate situation at a baseball finals party in Seattle. "How intimate?" asked Jessica immediately "Clothes off or on?" After much further discussion it emerged that the others didn't have any more details. "Anyway, Bella," said Jessica returning to me with a suddenness that made me jump in case she noticed that I had fallen back into staring at him again "Edward is a lost cause. Forget it."

I asked Angela about his lunch companions who were just as startlingly attractive as Edward (now that I knew his name). I found out that the girl with the short dark hair was actually his twin sister and the slight blonde guy was Jasper, both her boyfriend and Edward's best friend. Emmett was the dark haired beefy guy across the table, obviously another of Edward's friends from the baseball story and the statuesque blonde was his girlfriend, Rosalie, a 'total bitch' according to Jessica who took over the descriptions from Angela's much more gentle comments.

For just a moment, there was a hush in the food hall, apart from us, and our continuing discussion of Edward and his sexuality, his appearance, his family, his grades and almost anything else about him. Edward looked up and glared and I couldn't help the feeling that it was mostly directed at me. Jessica, half-turned her head and gave him what was presumably intended to be an alluring smile and he quickly turned back to his companions and Emmett's booming laughter. Jessica flushed a little (a slight rose, nothing like one of my bright red blushes) and the conversation lagged and was redirected towards something that had been posted on the class Facebook page. Angela accepted my group friend request (she had administrator rights luckily) and the others told me that anything that happens in the Forks senior class appears on the page and that everyone was part of the group. I made a mental note that I would be able to pm Edward through the group and then gave a mental groan that I had even thought that.

His nasty speech in that first lesson was obviously meant to make me uncomfortable and keep me away but in fact it had the opposite effect. He had asked me not to talk to him, which was frankly a bit of a relief because I can't ever remember comfortably making small talk with a gorgeous guy and I wouldn't have a clue what to say. Now I could relax in peace and quiet and lose myself in occasional fantasies.

Actually, if the fantasies were only occasional, that would have been fine but over the few weeks since then the fantasies have threatened to overtake my reality. I really don't know what's wrong with me. Whenever I sit next to him, it's like I have a special sense just for being aware of how he sits and moves and sighs and breathes. I swear I can feel him breathing! It's ridiculous and intrusive and if it weren't for the fact that I've covered this Biology Unit before, I'd be in deep trouble because it absolutely wrecks my concentration. I find that thoughts of him intrude on other things that I'm doing at least twenty times a day. I try really hard to think of something else and next thing I'm picturing him walking into the lunch room or thinking about something he said in biology, like how he correctly answered the question about phloem (and looked so beautiful while he did).

Over time, our relationship has improved to the point where I would say that he pretty much ignores me unless he has to work with me, which is an improvement, I suppose. I certainly haven't had any repetition of the threatening whispers. He's distantly polite and when we have to work together, such as when we have to share a set of slides, he's pleasant enough. He hasn't said anything unrelated to the subject yet and neither have I.

It's pathetic really.


	2. Chapter 2

As I said at the beginning, being invisible in Phoenix wasn't a problem for me but being here in Forks seems to be emphasizing the smallness of my existence. I've done nothing, achieved nothing, made no mark at all on the world around me, not even in the minds of other people. I'm feeling frustrated. I vow that next year when I go to college it will all be different and I'll become my own person in my own light but I still have to make it through this year. I think that the ever-present rain, fog and general gloom in Forks might just wash me away.

I really need to change my playlist.

Tonight, I've finished my homework, so I'm messing around, listening to music and checking the class Facebook page. I have a Post It on the top of the computer frame which says, "Do NOT pm EC" but I have only had to read it out to myself once so far. I think this represents an improvement in my condition. So far Mike Newton has posted three photos of his dinner which is about three more than I ever wanted to see and I'm tempted to comment "As long as you don't post a photo when it comes back up again as it looks likely to do..." but I think this might attract too much attention, so after taking a deep breath, I erase the comment and go back to taking crap quizzes on Buzzfeed. I've just been informed that out of all the Sith, I am actually Darth Tyranus (cool) and I'm thinking of going to bed when I check the class Facebook one last time and see that Jessica has posted something in which she tagged Edward Cullen.

What?

_Edward, U don't know what U R missing. Meet me in the second floor janitor's closet at 1 tomorrow and I'll change your mind about dating high school girls…_

What the hell was she thinking? Has she been drinking? Can you buy hallucinogens easily in Forks? I should get Charlie to investigate. I'm staring at the screen, so shocked that I hardly notice that my mouth has fallen open and I'm in danger of drooling on my keyboard. I'm so embarrassed for her, I blush strongly enough to heat the whole house. Seriously, the amount of blood that just rushed to my face must have substantially dropped my blood pressure. I'm in danger of fainting. As I watch, she adds another comment:

_PS I dare you_

A glance at the sidebar shows me that almost everyone is online at the moment including one Edward Cullen. Over the next few minutes replies begin to appear, mostly encouragement from the boys along the lines of "Go Edward!" including some slightly more crass suggestions and some qualified support for Jess from the girls, mixed with tinges of envy and horror. As I watch, Edward Cullen goes offline. I've got to give her some respect for her bold move which I could never emulate. I go to bed and toss and turn for a while, wondering whether the gorgeous boy will take her up on the offer. When I finally sleep, I dream that he is there in the closet among the cleaning fluid and scrubbing brushes.

With me.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm tooling around on the net when I get an email "Jessica tagged you in a post on Facebook". I ignore this, because it will inevitably be something lame and continue with my net surfing but I can't ignore the ten Facebook notifications which follow in quick succession. I open one of them, from Emmett, to find that it just reads "Eddie scores!" What the hell is he talking about? I open another one to find that it's a pm, again from Emmett. "Eddie boy, you seriously need to get laid and the girl is begging for it. Do not turn her down. She wants you bad!"

This is a surprisingly almost grammatically correct note from Emmett, (not known for his high English scores) but otherwise it makes no sense to me at all. Exasperated, I log into Facebook and find the class page.

There, under an advertisement for singing lessons, is a post from Jessica with my tag. And…

My jaw drops, my face flushes and I feel as if a bucket of cold water has been thrown over me. Disbelievingly, I read for the third time:

_Edward, U don't know what U R missing. Meet me in the second floor janitor's closet at 1 and I'll change your mind about dating high school girls…_

What the fucking hell is she on? When did I ever give her the slightest hint that I would enjoy making out with her amongst the cleaning products? I know Jessica is a bit mad but this is completely deranged.

More email notifications arrive, including one from Jasper, which merely says "We need to discuss". Oh God, no.

Jasper has 'discussed' my lack of dating with me before. After he discovered true love with my sister at the incredibly young age of seventeen, he has been on a mission to hook up everyone around him. He had no trouble with Emmett who fell hopelessly for Rose Hale when she punched out someone on another football team after he landed a punch on Em (which the boy still claims was a) below the belt b) distraction and c) sheer luck). But I am still stubbornly holding out against his lectures on domestic bliss and how Getting Your Love Life Sorted Solves Every Other Problem.

I definitely like girls, I'm totally into breasts and I definitely want to have sex but just…not…yet. Not here, in this small town, with all these people I've known for years and can't get away from, at least not until I go to college. An East Coast college, that's the plan, an Ivy League school, miles away from my adorable but painfully interested in my social life adopted mother Esme, miles away from my physician "let me tell you again about safe sex" adopted Dad Carlisle and possibly also away from my delightful but almost psychic non-identical twin sister (not adopted) Alice. If I brought a girl home and booted her at our place (God forbid), Alice would come rushing into the room halfway through gushing "Oh wow, we're going to be great friends" or something like that, Esme would be standing just outside the door with tears in her eyes saying "My boy's growing up, oh Edward, I just knew you had it in you!" (cue porn joke from the girl in this daydream who up to this point has been has been a bit of a blur "Actually Esme, it's in me") and Carlisle would be rushing home from work with three different kinds of condom, spermicidal foam and some lemon juice. (I swear, if he tells me about the fascinating research that shows that simple lemon juice can decrease the transmission of HIV one more time, I will shove a lemon up his nose. I am not covering my dick with lemonade for anyone.) Don't get me wrong, I love Esme and Carlisle to death and I'm eternally grateful for the way they took Alice and I into their house when our own parents died and I would do almost anything for them but that whole scenario is my worst nightmare.

Yes, I do get some teasing from the guys on the baseball team and that did lead me to a very near miss with a girl from another school while at intervarsity baseball last year. She was a cheerleader and she was from another state. I told her straight out that I wasn't into long distance relationships. I thought I'd made it perfectly clear what was happening but the next day she told me a) she thought I might have changed my mind b) Wisconsin isn't really long distance (obviously geography wasn't her best subject) and c) she hadn't had time to show me her oral skills but if I spoke to the pitcher on her school's team, he would give her a glowing reference.

Yechhh. As politely as I could, I got out of it. Alright, I told her that I was recovering from cancer and that I couldn't commit to a relationship because I had to go back to chemotherapy and I might not make it. Cringeworthy in the extreme and after we got back from that trip I vowed yet again, that I was not going to let hormones or shit stirring lead me into one of those situations again. I'm going to focus on my studies this year. Next year, I'll be open to all offers but not right now, not in Forks and not from Jessica.

Really, I'm being kind to her. It wouldn't last, it couldn't last and she'd just be miserable and that would make me miserable and I'd have to put up with her being miserable and everyone thinking that I made her miserable and fuck it, I just don't need it.

Alice mutters about Prom every so often, but I can just ignore it. I don't need Prom, I don't need a date and I certainly don't need a girlfriend.

Another message from Jasper "You are not going to ignore this. We are talking about it tomorrow morning. Do not blow me off".

I turn off the computer and go to bed. Tomorrow will be hell.


	4. Chapter 4

I stagger into the bathroom and stare at myself in the mirror in the grey morning light. I look like death. I look out the bathroom window and outside looks like some sort of ghostly afterlife. It's grey with fog and so damp that everything is covered in little beads of moisture even though it's not actually raining. I shower until the hot water runs out and then spend a painful twenty minutes trying to dry my hair with the hair dryer on maximum speed and heat but it is still no match for the ubiquitous moisture. My hair goes from feeling hot and mostly dry to cold and slightly wet five minutes later.

Disheartened, I give up and try to find some clothes to wear. My grey Henley only reflects back the grey outside, in both my room and my life but I don't seem to have any other (clean) options. I find a rich red bra and camisole (a present from my mother – not something I would buy myself) and I put them on but they don't show under the top and the hoodie and they completely fail to change my mood. I can't find any jeans either so I put on leggings and a skirt. I head out the door, almost slipping on the wet concrete steps. On my way to school, I stub my toe quite painfully on an uneven chunk of path, which causes me to hop in an ungainly fashion for a few blocks.

At school, I pass a knot of girls in the corridor on my way to my locker and realize as I pass that at the centre of the little huddle is Jessica and that she's fully made up including liquid eyeliner and lipstick and that she's wearing a push-up bra (either that or she had implants since yesterday). She's flicking her long hair and preening and the others are all making admiring noises. My foul temper increases exponentially. Not that I'm jealous, because that would be frankly stupid. I mean, Edward is nothing to me, nothing at all. As I am nothing to him.

I swallow down a big lump of self pity and frustration and take myself to my locker to get my books. I am going to have the worst day I've yet experienced in Forks. I can just tell.


	5. Chapter 5

I've been in the shower for at least ten minutes now and I still feel like shit. I turn off the water and dry myself automatically. When it comes to deodorant, I find myself carefully spraying instead of a quick blast and I curse myself inwardly. Despite my determined and complete lack of interest, it's as if my subconscious thinks that there's some chance that at lunch time today I will be wrapping myself around some deranged girl and wanting to smell nice. I snort and put on a pair of boxer briefs, hang up my towel and leave the bathroom.

"Did you make sure you used enough deodorant?" asks a small high voice and I'm so wired I actually jump at the sound. A figure is perched on the end of my bed and in the early morning gloom, I hadn't noticed. My sister, Alice. Already. Here it goes.

Ignoring her, I make my way to the drawers and pull out a pair of jeans and the first long-sleeved top that I lay my hands on. "Alice, get out of here. At least have the decency to wait until I've got some clothes on". A quick glance shows me that she is still looking at me closely and unblinkingly.

"Edward. I have the strongest feeling that you need to go along with this" she says seriously. Right. Alice and her strong feelings.

"Remember when you had the strongest feeling that you had to enter that pageant?"

Alice looks annoyed. The pageant was ten years ago and this still gets to her. "I would have won if it weren't for that hayseed with sparkling tiara…" she says broodingly. "Besides, it was clearly important that I enter the pageant, if only to put me off entering pageants for the rest of my life".

"So, just because you have the 'strongest feeling' about something doesn't mean that it's going to be a good experience" I argue.

"But I have the strongest feeling that this is going to be a good experience" she replies illogically but imperturbably.

I put my clothes on as quickly as possible and scrub my hands through my hair while Alice continues to watch me unnervingly closely. When I indicate that it's time to leave, she unwinds her legs and gets up from the bed. "Promise me you'll go" she says.

"Alice" I growl at her "I'm not fucking promising anybody anything" and I walk away with at least some shreds of dignity. The idea of my sister insisting that I publically exchange slobber with Jessica is just too revolting.

I eat a normal breakfast but twin only seems to have juice and some kind of stewed fruit thing (is she on a freak diet?). Carlisle has already left for the hospital but Esme is in the kitchen, organizing dinner, asking when we'll be home and I am seized with horror at the thought that Alice will tell her about Jessica. She doesn't, but merely continues to stare at me while spooning up her disgusting goop, so that I end up gobbling down my very normal breakfast and running away back to my room. I don't come out until I see Jasper's car go back down the driveway, presumably taking Alice away with it.

On the drive to school, I find myself humming along nervously to Taylor Swift on the radio, before I realize what I'm doing and put on a classical CD instead, telling myself that I have to get a grip here.

I'm slightly late and the car park is pretty full so I have to park miles away but the good thing is that the parking lot is mostly deserted. I'm moving quickly through the rows of cars, almost to the gate, when a familiar face steps out in front of me. Jasper. Fucker must have been waiting for me. I step backwards instinctively and collide with a huge wall of solid flesh. Even worse, he's brought Emmett. Fuck it, I'll never get away from the two of them.

"Edward" says Jasper with a ridiculous serious expression. "Thank you for joining us at school today. I was beginning to think you were ditching".

"No, no, but I am a bit late, Jas" I say hastily "Can we talk later? Is it about your homework?"

The pain in the ass is not to be so easily put off. "Edward" he says pushing me back until I can feel Emmett's disgusting breath on my shoulder. Has he been eating beef jerky for breakfast or something? His breath smells sort of meaty.

"Edward, there is an opportunity waiting for you today and you really must take it." I pretend to look puzzled just to annoy him. "Don't tell me … you're selling timeshare holiday units?"

"Emmett" he says and my huge, dumb but incredibly strong friend drops his heavy hand on my shoulder. "What is this?" I ask feebly. "It is an intervention" intones Jasper "An attempt to save your high school years from being considered the most boring in existence. An attempt to rescue your social status. An attempt to stop the widely circulating rumour that you're gay".

"Not that there's anything wrong with that" I mutter lamely.

"I know you're not gay and so apparently, does Emmett, according to his eyewitness account of the post intervarsity baseball celebrations last year ". Behind me the big guy grunts. I still haven't forgiven him for spying on me like that. "But the rest of our year remains unconvinced. I know you don't care about what the good people of Forks think, you've told me that often enough but I would still like to set the record straight."

"But Jas" I argue back "Not Jessica, and not in some freak Facebook event. I just can't. I've known Jessica for years and I've never wanted –"

"Exactly" he interjects "You've known her for years. Can you imagine the shame and disgrace awaiting the girl, this girl who has grown up with you, as you publically reject and humiliate her? You expose her to the risks of cyberbullying, flaming and trolling which may ultimately result in eating disorders, plastic surgery, reality television or even suicide. How could you do this to Jessica, the superficial but big-breasted simpleton we all know and love?"

I groan but I've got no comeback here and he knows it. There's nothing he could say that would make me want Jessica but appealing to my chivalrous instincts? Ah, shit, Esme and her lectures on how to treat women have ruined my life. Or at least my day.

"Alright, alright" I mutter "but don't expect me to enjoy it". Emmett gives one of his weird animal howls and pats me on the back so hard I almost go over. Shithead.

I had a feeling I was going to be outmaneuvered on this one but I've got a back up plan. I just hope it works.


	6. Chapter 6

There's an undercurrent of hysteria in classes today as everyone whispers about Jessica's Facebook offer. Every class has been full of giggling and whispers. Jessica is wandering around with a slightly superior smile and replacing her lip gloss every five minutes. The teachers are noticing everyone's lack of attention and are becoming snappy and my own irritation levels are going through the roof.

As the day goes on I realize that Jessica must have chosen today specifically because we have a free period before lunch, so it would be easier for her to make it to the 1pm assignation. She and an ever-growing group of supporters are apparently planning to hang around in the classroom so I determinedly make for the library. On the way I bump into Eric Yorkie, editor of the school rag and all round dork extraordinaire. "Bella!" he exclaims in my face "You're coming at lunchtime to help me with the layouts, right?"

Shit. If my day weren't bad enough already now I have to spend an hour listening to Yorkie crap on about shit he's seen on the internet and smiling at his crap jokes while fending off any attempts to ask me on a date. Internally groaning I pull a tight smile and nod as enthusiastically as I can manage. "I'll see you there" I say pleasantly and take off before I can watch Mike Newton nudge him suggestively and make some innuendo about layouts as he does regularly every fortnight when Eric asks me that same question. I step briskly away to the library where I find the most isolated cubicle and throw myself down in the chair, stubbing the same toe from this morning painfully against the metal desk leg in the process. I'm about to scream in pain and frustration as I ask the Chandler question, "Could this day get any worse?"

Almost an hour later, it becomes apparent that the answer to that question is in fact, yes. I'm still sitting at the desk, with my earbuds in, listening to music to try to take my mind off the fact that I was unable to concentrate enough even to read a simple novel. I'm absent mindedly twirling my hair and rolling my neck when I feel a slithering sensation and I discover that my necklace with it's white crystal that my Mom gave me for power or balance or luck or something has come undone. The crystal ball charm has dropped down my top and managed to bypass my insubstantial cleavage. I trap it against my stomach and pull at the necklace. A quick examination shows me that its not broken, the catch simply popped open, which has happened before. I try to put it back on but no matter how I strain my chin against my chest I just can't see enough. I'm sick of trying to distract myself anyway, so I decide that I'll go back to my locker and pick up the stuff for the afternoon and then head to the classroom.

I stash my bag in my locker and then head to the girls' bathroom along the corridor outside our classroom, clutching my necklace in one hand. I'm still putting my keys away in my jeans pocket when I reach the bathroom so partly out of convenience and partly to release some tension I kick the heavy door open. Hard.

It swings back with a violence that surprises me. The other thing that surprises me is the high pitched scream from inside, the brief glimpse of a figure clutching its face and the continuing cries of "Owwwwww… fuck!" I stop fumbling with my keys and gently push the door open. There is Jessica, with her hands up to her face screaming.

Oooops.

I'm just starting to apologise when she takes her hand away from her nose briefly and we both realize that it is covered in blood. There is a collective horrified gasp in the background and then I become aware that four or five of Jessica's closest friends are standing around the room, frozen in horror.

I'm still just beginning on a long and sincere apology when Jessica stops screaming "Oww" and starts screaming "You fugging idiot! You've brogen my node!" Her words break the immobility spell which seems to have fallen over everyone and we all rush her to the sink. Lauren starts wetting paper towels and passing them to Jessica, which even in my state of shock impresses me as a very practical thing to do and Tanya wads them up and hands them to Jessica to press over her face. Jessica tips her head back but then straightens up immediately complaining of blood choking her and everything turns into a chaos of people lamenting, asking to see the damage, offering suggestions to fix the damage or offering opinions on the extent of the injury while I continue to stand at the edge of the group muttering futile apologies and trying not to see any of the blood welling out through the towels and over her fingers into the sink because I've never really been able to stand the sight of blood.

No amount of paper towels soaked in cold water seem able to stop Jessica's nose from bleeding but they certainly do a number on her carefully applied makeup, especially the liquid eyeliner. The other girls do their best but after a few minutes Lauren suggests that she needs to go to the nurse.

"Doh!" howls Jessica from behind the towels which is not in fact a reference to Homer Simpson but is actually a negative response signaling refusal. She tries some more classic maneuvers such as tipping her head backwards but the blood continues to flow. She finally notices my apologetic noises and snaps "You idiod, Bella. Ged oudda here!"

I'm a little hurt by this. It was purely an accident on my part. I try offering one more apology with a little explanation and just a touch of self-justification but she rebuffs me again and Lauren gives me a scowl and a whispered "You've done enough damage Bella. Why don't you just fuck off?"

Right.

I put on my necklace which was the original reason for my visit to the bathroom. I'm standing and looking at myself in the mirror when Jessica removes her bloody wad of wet paper after applying pressure to her nose for a few minutes and desperately watches her reflection just a little further along from mine, along with everyone else in the room. Truthfully, that's not going to cheer her up much as she looks like hell. To add to her woes a trickle of blood appears at her right nostril and she gives a despairing cry. Lauren, very sensibly again suggests that she needs to go to the school nurse and Jessica just wails "But I'm supposed to be meeting Edward in the cupboard in 5 minutes time!"

A silence falls over the bathroom. The girls all exchange meaningful glances and I debate trying an encouraging lie such as "You might be out in a few minutes, as soon as you stop bleeding" or "You look fine, really" but Lauren's bitchy comment comes back to me and I think that I have done enough already.

After a few more minutes of staring at the little rivulets of blood splashing off her face and into the sink, Jessica finally gives in and agrees to be taken off to the school nurse. The last thing I hear as she and the others bustle out the door is "Edward's going to be waiting for me!"

And then, left alone in the girls' bathroom, I have a light bulb moment which reminds me of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. You know, that bit in the book when the Grinch gets a wonderful, awful idea. Well, that's what happens to me. A shiver, a frisson, if you like, passes over me as it suddenly occurs to me that I have a three minute window of opportunity to get to the appointed cupboard and take Jessica's place. If I get there before he does, I can turn out the light and pretend I am her. I can steal a kiss from the gorgeous Edward Cullen and then run away, like a child knick knocking. No one need ever know. I can go on being invisible Bella but I will have a bright secret to sustain me through the rest of this dreary year in Forks.

I must be out of my nut.


	7. Chapter 7

I've looked at my watch every thirty seconds for the last five minutes but there is no escaping the fact that it is almost one o'clock. Emmett and Jas have insisted on accompanying me to the second floor corridor but I have been vehement that they either leave me at that point or I will not take a step further. I'm not having that fucking eavesdropper Emmett sitting outside with his big fucking ears.

I walk down the corridor to the janitor's closet about halfway down, stopping once to check that those two shitheads are still at the stairwell. Jasper waves at me cheerily and I have to look away before I explode. I pause for a moment with my hand on the door handle. Oh God.

I pull the door open and it's completely dark inside. Maybe she chickened out? That would be the best possible outcome from my point of view. I take a tentative step inside but compared to the relatively bright fluorescent lit corridor I can't see a thing. "Hello?" I call.

The door slams shut behind me and I can hear the sound of the lock being flicked shut which I'm actually pleased about because I couldn't put it past various class members to suddenly throw the door open, trying to catch us in a compromising position. I still can't see anything but someone pushes me forward and down onto a seat. Then they stand against the door slightly behind me.

This is my chance. "Look Jess" I say trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "I don't know what led to this whole thing but it's just not my idea of fun. I think you're a lovely person but I'm just not interested in dating anyone in Forks. I'm planning on moving to the East Coast for college and I just think it's a really bad time to start anything with a girl. I'm not just being old-fashioned here, I'm all for women being assertive but I just don't feel comfortable with this. I don't want to see you being teased though, so look, I suggest we just sit here, for a bit, have a … you know have a chat, like old friends and then we'll go our separate ways and I swear not to say anything more about it. You can tell people whatever you want about what happened, from we did everything including anal to I rejected you violently because I'm in love with Benedict Cumberbatch. Or you can say it was Hallmark style romantic. I don't care and I promise I'll support whatever you have to say. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

I finish making my offer which is the best face saving solution for both of us that I can think of under the circumstances. I really just don't want her to suffer because of this.

The figure by the door is silent for a few moments but I can hear their rapid breathing. And then I hear a whisper, "Shut up and kiss me, Edward" and a girl sits on my lap.

I brace myself for the onslaught of lip gloss and other shit but unexpectedly, she stops and traces my face lightly with her fingers. Then she gives me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

I'm relieved. If that's it then, I don't mind at all.

She doesn't stop though. Very slowly and gently, she places a few more kisses on my cheek, my upper eyelid, the tip of my nose, my chin and straining a little to reach, my forehead.

She smells lovely; there's some scent that I become aware of as she leans forward that I just can't place. The feel of her soft skin as she brushes against my face is great. The fact that I still can't really see in the dark heightens every touch and adds a sort of suspense because I don't know where she is going to kiss me next. I realize that my arms are holding her loosely because she is after all perched on my lap about the same time that I realize that I'm enjoying this more than I thought. It's very subtle teasing, very delicately done for someone who set this up on the class Facebook page.

And then she finally kisses me on the lips but again it's light and fleeting, more like the promise of a kiss than the real thing. It's me who pushes my hands up into her long soft hair to hold her to me and kiss her deeper.

What am I doing?


	8. Chapter 8

Insane or not I run up the stairs to the second floor which is mercifully deserted probably because the juniors (who have their lockers up here) are still in class. I dash down the hall to the cupboard. To my great relief, it's empty, although it occurred to me on the way that I had the excuse of wanting to let Edward know what happened to Jessica. Although why I should have sprinted here like Bolt will be a little harder to explain…

By the white light of the naked Eco-bulb hanging from the ceiling, it doesn't look too appealing I have to say and I have a few internal harsh words for Jessica for choosing this as an ideal setting for a romantic date. There is an old, hard wooden chair which at least means that we won't have to stand up and some old metal shelving covered in paint cans and brushes as well as old mops, brooms and buckets in the corner. Really, I've seldom seen anything more depressing. I turn out the light and start to reconsider my whole scheme but I can hear somebody on the stairs at the far end of the corridor, so I push the door until it is almost closed and hold myself against it. There is only a sliver of light from the doorway, but as my eyes adjust I can see the outline of the chair very faintly. It really is very dark in here. I hope there aren't any spiders. At least it doesn't smell too bad.

I can hear Emmett's booming voice. Oh God, this must be Edward. Maybe I could just nonchalantly saunter out as if I just happened to be passing by? Nope. I'm going to have to go through with it.

I wait behind the door. Edward pushes it open and walks in rather hesitantly calling out "Hello?" as if he were expecting an alien or a slasher to jump out at him. Without giving him a chance to see me, I slam the door and turn the lock. I really don't want any unexpected visitors.

I turn back to Edward who is obviously still unable to see in the dark. I put my hands up on his shoulders and push him down onto the chair that I know is there and he manages to sit down without banging his shin painfully or any of the other things that I would undoubtedly do in his position.

And then he starts talking and he is surprisingly nice. He doesn't tell Jessica that she's a total slut and a nutcase or anything of the sort. He's obviously quite concerned for her pulling this bizarre stunt and he's clearly trying to make sure that she doesn't suffer too much subsequently. He's actually being rather sweet about the whole thing.

That's it, I think, and I break into his monologue with a whispered "Shut up and kiss me, Edward". Corny, I know, but it just seemed to fit.

I sit myself sideways on his lap, trying to put some of my weight on my own feet so that he doesn't feel like he has a whale on his knees. I put my hands up to feel his face because it's too dark to make out details like where his mouth is and imagine how embarrassing it would be if I land a big slobbery kiss on his nose or something. So I run my fingers around the side of his face, just working out where everything is. He's frozen. I lean forward, towards him and ….

…it suddenly occurs to me that I've never kissed a boy on the lips in my life and I don't know how. At the last minute I chicken out and lean my lips against his cheeks instead. I rest there for a minute or two feeling a rising panic. What am I doing?

I can't stay there with my lips attached to his face forever, so I decide to try carrying it off as if I meant to do it all along. I try another kiss on his cheek and another. An image floats into my head of Karen Allen in the first Indiana Jones and I try for his eyebrow, his chin, and a couple of other spots. Incredibly, he's still just sitting there although he seems a little less frozen than when I first sat on him and I'd almost swear that he's leaning into me a little when I kiss him. His skin is warm and a little rough over the bottom of his cheeks and his chin. I test the different textures of his face with my lips. It feels fabulous. I can't believe he's sitting still for this.

Much as I'm starting to enjoy myself, finding different spots to kiss, I realize from the way he is turning his face towards me that he's expecting one on the lips sooner or later. Screwing up all my courage and putting my hands either side of his head so that I know where I'm going in the dark I place my lips over his, quickly tilting my head slightly to avoid a nose clash. With only the slightest pressure, I hold my lips against his for a second, then another, a few more seconds and then a bit longer… and then completely unexpectedly his hands slide up my spine and then they're in my hair and the back of my head and they're urging me closer and his mouth opens a bit more and so I open mine in response and…

Oh God, I'm kissing Edward. And he's kissing me. And holding me.

And it feels awesome. I mean really good. I've never felt so excited and aroused and thrilled and warm. Actually, I really think the temperature has gone up a few degrees.

Unlike me, flying by the seat of my pants as we had established earlier, Edward clearly knows his way around a kiss. We try it all ways, to this side, the other side, lips melded together, then pulling away until we are just brushing each other, barely touching. When we go back to kissing deeply, it doesn't surprise me at all to feel his tongue and when I touch it with my own, I'm gratified to feel him press me closer with his hands and make a slight groaning noise. I really want to hear that groaning sound again so I try the tongue thing again and there's another noise but this time it's more of an "Mmmm" but with someone else's tongue in your mouth it ends up just sounding like a groan.

After an indeterminate time, I think I've got the hang of the kissing thing and I'm starting to think about other things that I could do to make Edward groan. He obviously feels the same way because he breaks off from the kissing and traces his lips around the curve of my chin to my neck. The feeling of him kissing up and down my throat is almost better than the kisses on the lips and I can hear my loud, ragged breaths, drowning out any other distant (or not so distant - I think I hear the door rattling once or twice) school sounds. I'm a little embarrassed at how breathy I've become but Edward doesn't seem to mind at all.

Edward comes back to my lips for more but suddenly he seems to be pushing me off his lap. I'm protesting as much as I can with my tongue in his mouth when he makes it clear that he doesn't want to let me go, he just wants me to sit astride him, which certainly does make things a lot … easier. Just for a change, I try licking his earlobe; it seems that he likes this too. Actually, when I think about it, Edward is pretty easy, I mean he seems to like anything involving licking or kissing or stroking or…

We kiss again for a while (I've got no idea how long we've been here) and then I feel Edward run his hands up and down my sides. It's nice but a little bit tame. Let's face it, I'd be happy to have Edward's hands all over me everywhere at this point. Then he slips his hands under my shirt and I get it, he wants to take my top off. Great idea, I'm feeling hot anyway, so I give him a hand by taking it off myself. I manage to tie it around my waist while Edward hits me with a new onslaught of kisses that start under my earlobe and slowly move down. Oh God, he's moving down my chest. My back arches involuntarily. His hand comes up and slides my straps off my shoulder and then he's brushing his hand over my breast and I didn't realize until he did it that they were aching to be stroked. When his mouth follows and his tongue makes little flicking motions I could spontaneously combust. I'm clawing at his shirt at the back, trying to pull it off and eventually he obliges me by ducking his head under and throwing it off. I don't know where it landed.

With both of us kind of bare chested, the kiss rate accelerates even more but it only continues to feel better. I come up for air at some point, and realize that I've been shamelessly rubbing myself over the front of his jeans. I'm a bit shocked at myself; isn't that some kind of perversion? Aren't there people who enjoy rubbing at other people with their clothes on? God, is that me? In the space of one lunchtime in a cupboard have I gone from 'never-been-kissed' to 'complete freak'?

If I am, then Edward is too, obviously, because when I slacken off my movements he places his hands on my ass and pushes and pulls me in a not-too-subtle hint that I should keep going. So, despite my slight misgivings about my mental health and his, I continue with my back and forward motions until this sensation builds up and I really don't think I can stop and Edward's lips are on my nipple again and his hand is on my other breast and my heart's racing and I'm panting but it all feels so good and my back arches more and … (wordless)… oh my God, I just came.

Can I just say at this point, that this is not my first orgasm? Despite my lack of experience with men I can get myself off whenever I want (well, in reality that's only ever been in bed wrapped in some extraordinary fantasy before I fall asleep) but obviously it's the first time it's happened in company. When all the fabulous clenching and shivering subsides, I'm momentarily self-conscious and at a loss. I wonder what I sounded like when I caught my breath like that. Did I call out his name? Did I make snuffling sounds like a rabbit? At least it's dark so I don't have to wonder what I looked like.

Edward seems to have grasped that something momentous happened however obviously nothing so earth shattering has happened to him yet, because after politely giving me a minute or two he is back rubbing himself against me with renewed ferocity and I have to say that although I'm still enjoying it, I'm starting to get a bit sore. I think that the reason it was all so good for me was that there appears to be some sort of hard lump in the front of Edward's crotch. I'm a hopelessly inexperienced virgin of course but even I can take a guess as to what that might be and I figure that some more directed attention might help him out so I wiggle back a bit and put my hand over his fly and sort of rub vaguely up and down.

Score. Now Edward's making the heaviest of the panting noises and he lets out a fabulous groan which is really music to my ears because it confirms that I've done something right. He puts a hand over mine and gently but firmly directs me to rub a bit faster while he buries his face in my neck. In a short time his whole body seems to twitch and he latches on to my neck like a vampire. I happily leave my hand over his cock as he makes a few last uncoordinated thrusts and then we're holding each other and panting and giving gentle kisses with touches of our lips as we both calm down.

Suddenly Edward says "OK Jess, you win. That was amazing" and WHAM! What was that? Oh yeah, that was reality hitting me in the back of the head like a huge block of concrete, a reality in which Edward thinks I'm an idiot called Jessica who propositioned him on Facebook and who he allowed to seduce him out of charity while meantime he and the real me have never had any kind of interaction that didn't involve theoretical biology as opposed to the entirely practical kind of biology that we just demonstrated. Even apart from this, Edward's comment strikes a sour note for me because he sounds a little resigned perhaps, maybe even defeated. That wasn't what I wanted at all.

I pull away a little and say in a low voice matching his "This wasn't supposed to be a contest. Yes, you could say I won" I add, trying to flirt a little to lighten him up a bit, "But that doesn't mean you lost". To my relief, I can sense that he has a little answering smile on his face in the dark. "I lost my innocence" he says but to my relief I can hear that he's teasing me back. "Oh yes, you were clearly pure and innocent before today" I say with heavy sarcasm because in fact it was very clear to me that Edward had some skills. Or perhaps that was just my innocence.

Much as I would like to stay and flirt some more, every moment that passes makes me more anxious about how I'm going to get out of this. Edward asks me "Where do think my shirt went?" and that gives me an excuse to get off his lap but also sends me into a panic that he is going to reach for the light switch. "Just stay there for a second" I whisper urgently. "I have one more surprise for you. Close your eyes". "Jess," he says and the sound of that name in his voice grates at me horribly when I'd like him to be saying my name. "I can hardly see anything in here, it's so dark – what is the point in shutting my eyes?" Shit. I know he's a bright boy but logical thinking is a bit inconvenient for me at the moment. "Just do me a favour" I urge and to my relief he responds "Okay". I make a dash for the door, flick the lock and am out in about two seconds without any of my usual fumbles. As I shut the door behind me I can hear Edward call out but then I'm off down the corridor to the stairs. I leave the stairwell at the first floor in case he comes after me and dodge away through the connecting wing and out to the library. I can't hear anyone behind me. A few juniors look startled at the sight of me running along the corridor but it is possible that they've just heard my reputation for clumsiness and they're afraid I'm going to fall flat on my face any second. Just outside the library, I throw myself into the girls' bathroom. As usual, this one is deserted. Puffing like some sort of Really Useful Engine, I throw myself against the wall, spread my arms out and throw my head back until the cold wall and the quiet bring me some kind of calm. When my heart stops beating frantically, I walk to the sinks and stare at myself in the mirror. I'm still flushed pink all the way down my chest and my hair is a horrible mess. I splash myself with cold water from the tap over my face and neck until I start to feel my skin cool. I raise my head slowly from the sink and stare at myself in the mirror, trying to work out if I look any different. Automatically, I start trying to smooth my hair out, best I can, without a brush or comb. I push the mass back behind my shoulders and there on my collarbone is proof that I am different and that something happened to me, causing dark broken blood vessels and slight red bruising under the pale skin. I put my hand up to feel the spot where he marked me, sort of testing for soreness but ending up more as stroking the place, reliving the feeling when it was made, bringing on a renewed attack of being weak and shaky. A whole new blush breaks out and my heart rate picks up again.

I startle at the sound of the door and reflexly flick my hair over my right shoulder and around my neck. Thank fuck, it is Angela.

"Hi Bella, there you are" she says, acting so normal that I am momentarily shocked. Doesn't she realize what a state I'm in? Obviously not. "I didn't see you in the library earlier and you missed layouts of the school paper. Yorkie is not happy with you! I had to calm him down, he was going to go look for you".

Yorkie. The school paper. What the hell is she talking about? My old life wafts through my head. Right, that was supposed to be my lunchtime today, helping Yorkie and hanging around the library. I almost forgot.

My appearance finally registers with my friend and she looks concerned. "Bella, are you okay?" she asks doubtfully. I have to get it together here.

"Actually, I'm feeling kind of faint" I say truthfully enough. "I got all hot and sweaty so I came in here and I've just been splashing some water on myself and seeing if it gets worse".

"Is that why you took off your top?" she asks coming over to me and putting her arm around my shoulders gently.

Shit, that's right I'm still just wearing my camisole although I least I managed to pull up the straps. I nod, trying to look ill. "I thought I might throw up a while ago", I explain "But it's getting better". I don't want her to take me to the nurse in case Jessica is still there. I don't think I could face that.

Angela is just lovely to me, offering me a loan of her hairbrush in order to brush my hair and rubbing my back gently. If I really were feeling sick, I'm sure I'd be better in no time. The only problem is when I think she might notice the mark on my neck, so I keep rubbing my hand across it as if my neck hurt. She walks with me back to my locker and I'm half bending down, picking up my bag when she asks "Did you hear? Jessica got hit by a door and had to go to the school nurse. I still don't think she's back in class. So much for the whole Edward stunt! I bet he's relieved. I think he actually mildly dislikes her but he's never been mean enough to tell her".

Still with my head in my locker, I say "Poor Jess!" rather insincerely. It seems that Angela didn't hear that I was there so that's a relief too. It means that Lauren and Jessica aren't openly accusing me of deliberate sabotage. I put on my hoodie and zip it up to disguise any suspicious bruises. Angela continues to chatter away while we walk to Spanish class and I make noncommittal noises every so often.

In Spanish, I'm so preoccupied with thinking about Edward that it is as if every single word of the language has been wiped from my mind with some sort of specialized serum, like you see in spy thrillers. In my daydream he is waiting for me after school and tells me that he knew it was really me all along and he sweeps me into his car and we drive off to his country estate which seems to be somewhere in France and … I'm abruptly brought back to the present when Mrs Goff directly asks me a question and I stare at her open mouthed, unable to say anything in reply. Fortunately, she is too impatient today to hassle me and Angela steps in to answer the question. I give Angela a nod of thanks afterwards and try to stop myself from sliding back into romantic fantasies but I just can't help it…

Finally the class is over. The only subject left between me and the end of my day is … Biology.

Oh Shit.


	9. Chapter 9

She ran away.

I did not expect that.

If I'd thought about it beforehand which I clearly hadn't, I would have thought that she would insist on parading me around with her, holding hands or something equally humiliating. Instead, she just took off.

When she asked me to close my eyes, I didn't, because I had a sudden flash of paranoid delusion about her taking photos to post on facebook or something so as soon as the door opened I was on my feet, ready to cover my face or hit someone. I caught a glimpse of someone in red with long darkish hair dashing out the door and that was it.

I am so thrown that I scrabble around in the dark for a bit looking for my shirt before I realize that there is almost certainly a light. I open the door slightly, find the light switch and spot my shirt immediately where it must have landed on one of the shelves. Stepping over to pick it up I just have to cringe because of the slimy sensation in my underwear. Ugh. I need to get to the bathroom.

I check that the corridor is clear before leaving because my paranoia is growing all the time and walk down the hall to the boys' bathroom. I've got the choice between wearing the wet patch that remains after I do my best to clean up with the toilet paper or going commando. I decide to stick with the wet patch.

I slide into my seat next to Jasper in Trig. "Where the fuck have you been all lunchtime?" he asks me. What the fuck? "I did what you told me to do, asshole!" I hiss back to him. "I met Jessica in the fucking cupboard". "No you didn't" he says calmly.

I'm obviously still not myself because I have a sudden desire to hit him. "What the fuck are you talking about, shithead?" I continue a little incoherently. "Why are you being such a dick? I was there". My whispers are about as loud as normal speaking at this point. Jasper frowns at me, looks around quickly and then leans over and speaks in a quiet voice.

"Jessica walked into a door and spent lunchtime with the school nurse. She's still there. When we heard about it, Emmett and I went looking for you. We went past the janitor's closet but it was locked. Where did you go? Don't tell me you sat there the whole lunchtime in a dark closet on your own?"

Asshole is smirking at me but I ignore it because I'm so shocked at what he said. I process the information for a few seconds and then give him my considered response. "Bullshit".

He gives me his wide-eyed innocent face. The teacher starts calling for us to take out our books and begins to demonstrate something on the board. I'm staring sightlessly. Could Jasper's story be true?

I drift through the whole class, hassling Jasper for information when we're supposed to be working on problems and staring blankly at the board during the teacher's explanations. Jas continues to stick to his story. He and Emmett went back to the cafeteria after leaving me. They met Alice and Rose who had heard from Irina about Jess and her bleeding nose. Later, Emmett heard from one of his football buddies who had gone to the nurse to replace a bandage, that she was still there through most of lunch. They came up to the cupboard to find me but it was locked. Well, that part was true.

I don't know what to think. If Jasper is not shitting me then my closet encounter with Jessica was not with Jessica at all. But who the hell could it have been? Who did I just get so close with that I'm pretty sure I made her cum? Who was that close to me? I'm feeling shaky and I'm not sure why. I can't believe that a complete stranger deceived me like that.

At the end of the lesson, Jasper stops me. "You look kind of freaked out" he says. "What the hell happened?" I shake him off, telling him I'll talk to him later. I've got to get my head straight. It's no big deal, right? It's not like I had sex with her, whoever she was. Doesn't this sort of thing happen to James Bond all the time?

I'm still confused and I'm feeling anxious. I'm glad Biology is next because it's one of my favourite classes.


End file.
